Homesick for England

So typically English country...

This week has made me homesick for England. It feels like the spring time visits we have made in the past when we have left the brown and gray of Iowa for the intoxicating green humidity of England. The daffs blooming as wildflowers through the woods. With a single rain shower earlier in the week, it seems as though everything was washed with green.
The garden is looking pathetic and wants to be cleaned up. A little at a time and it will get done. This year, more flowers. I envision an explosion of a cottage garden that will supply me with bouquets all summer long and into the fall.

I don't know that I have ever mowed as early as this, but my yard needs to be cut. This Domestic Goddess is expanding her repertoire and has watched a YouTube video on how to sharpen the blade, change the oil, the whole bit. I will not be intimidated....much.

Yes, really.

The beauty of the early spring has thrown allergy fighting into a full-time occupation. In fact, we are starting spring break early with coughs, wheezing, and splitting headaches today. We're popped on antihistimines and laying low. An early spring makes it a long time until the first killing freeze of fall.

This is a familiar spot for the fam! Ipswich quay on the River Orwell

Spring weather like this sparks new ideas and interests. The walk/run thing has started, however... see ref. to allergies above... I am eager to paint and freshen the house. I am making new friends, staying in touch with old friends, and getting to know myself after many years of being disconnected.
The kids are off to spend the week with Grandma and Grandpa and I am thinking of all the alone time I will have. Delicious, yet daunting all at the same time... A break and change of routine is always welcome. I'm thinking cereal for dinner just about every night next week sounds really good. And browsing through photos of spring breaks spent in England will help the homesickness...
What is spring nudging in you? What new growth is pushing its way to the surface in you?

March Madness is more than basketball

Today's view from the porch is green... not just because it is St. Patrick's Day but because we have had an unusually warm stretch of weather for mid-March. There are crocuses blooming, daffs not far behind, and even the tulips are pushing up. I've seen magnolias ready to bloom. "March madness" in more ways than one.

We are a men's college basketball household and pride ourselves in being excellent spectators. Our brackets are busted and only the first round of games have been played. But what fun.

March madness refers to the weather, the fun term for the wall-to-wall basketball tournaments for both men and women going on right now, and all the madness in my house these days.

1. My son passed his test to earn his learner's permit yesterday. Enough said.
2. Both kids had excellent report cards.
3. Another birthday bonanza with both kids' birthdays seven days apart, now 14 and 11. 
4. I'm starting a running program. Yes. At my age.

We missed the joy of March Madness a year ago. At that time, it truly was madness in a very serious way. My children's father was in the hospital with alcohol-related liver failure and all the related complications made it a life-threatening situation. I was encouraged to have what I hope was the most difficult conversation with my children ever. In the lobby of this huge teaching hospital, I told them that their dad might not make it. He might not get better and that he would not be coming home to live with us again. 

The past year has been filled with stops and starts as we found our new way of being normal. What we really discovered is how to live fully and openly. With credit to Paul Johnson for this observation, when we have brought our individual brokenness, sadness, and hurt, together with each other, we have created something really amazing. We have created a new family. 

The joy of spring feels amazing this week. New life, renewal, the world waking up and turning green again. I don't think I have ever enjoyed being alive more. 

Celebrating Because You Need It

This morning's view from the porch is sunny at 6 a.m. This won't be the case tomorrow when we monkey with time tonight. Spring forward, fall back... I love falling back, but springing forward is a lot harder. Relishing the sunshine this morning and wondering why we don't just leave the clock alone...

It's been a wild week. We are a high school family in training, with freshman registration coming up next week. We've been to the high school musical. We've listened to both the middle and high school jazz bands in competition in Iowa City. We have confirmation class at church. We followed the boys basketball team and their trip to the state tournament. We are studying for a learner's permit. And we reveled in the progression of music education from 5th to 8th grades last night. The entire week has had one school or youth function after another.

I have close friends who are teetering on the edge of empty nests and right now, a little bit of that sounds kind of, oh... relaxing? But I also know without any doubt that I will be melancholy when my time comes up, too.
We are in the midst of the birthday bonanza in my house. My son turned 14 on Monday and my daughter turns 11 this coming Monday. So the house is decorated for a couple of weeks and there's always cake and ice cream - at least until it's gone.

Celebrations feel good and I am of the spirit that sometimes, one must create a celebration because it is a Thursday. Or, come to think of it, because we change the time on the clocks... maybe tonight we'll celebrate having an evening with time to be at home for dinner... homemade pizza is sounding pretty good...

Make a celebration if you need one. It can be as simple as phoning a friend or as elaborate as planning a party. For all the crazy it brings, life is good. Enjoy your view today.

Teen Spirit

Yesterday's skies showered us with the biggest, fattest, jaw-dropping  flakes of snow that made us a little more than grateful that it couldn't pile up for the warmth of the earth. A snowfall like that is much more fun in December than in early March. However, there are patches of little green things out there, shoots of daffodils, and signs that spring is springing.

For those of us whose seasons follow a school calendar, it is high school musical season. The kids and I went to see the musical production at our high school last night and it was quite impressive. From the students with the leads, to those who lent their voices, and all those who worked unseen but did the magic, it was spectacular. A certain incoming freshman who lives in my house had that same look on his face as he did last spring when he decided he loved jazz and was ready to add the trumpet to his list of instruments so that he could play the music. A tradition goes forward and scores of high school musical memories come flooding back...

I doubt that few of us can say with confidence that we like what we see in the world. Financial crises, incredible disasters, school shootings, war, and outright hatred being shown to others daily. Fear is a very powerful emotion and drives so much of this. It's extraordinarily hard for those of us who are self-proclaimed and die-hard Pollyannas.

But then you decide to buy tickets to the high school musical, you go to the girls basketball game, you listen to the students who compete in the speech contest.... and it makes the negative in the world somehow much less potent.

Another reinforcing shot of teen spirit on the schedule for today, delivered through the wonders of jazz played by middle and high school students. It's all the more potent because they want to do it, they have an interest - even a passion for it. I will soak it all up, and give it back to them.

Bikers, Bullets, and Babes

I think I have found a calling. It's a bit of a take off on "The Girlfriends Guide" series of books. "The Little Sister's Guide to Online Dating." After 20 years in marketing and public relations, I've learned a little along the way. In my short time in online dating, I have started a story budget for a self-help book for men in the world looking for love online.

Possible chapter titles/subjects...
"THAT'S the Photo You're Using? Seriously?"  Some of these dear men are only missing the lines behind their heads and the little plaque with their arrest number on it. Definitely not wink-worthy.

"You Had Me At the Proper Use of Your/You're; To/Too; Their/They're/There" Too many of these grammar gaffes and I will dismiss you a hacker from Mumbai.

"Are Those Girls Really Your Daughters?" uhm...yeah.

Men in my age range (40-55) tend to fall into three categories: bikers, bullets, and babes.

There are a lot of bikers - real ones and wannabes. Tats, leather, do rags, black tees and jeans, bald with goatees. Harley riders and they are proud of their bikes. Some even post photos of bikes they WISH they had. There are also bikers who are actually cyclists and looking for their triathlon partner... "most recently, I biked up Pikes Peak in January, off road..."

Bullets. Photos of men holding up dead things they have hunted and killed. Favorite color? Camo. Or they have giant fish they have caught. I swear this is Modern Anthropology:101.

And babes... this subject goes with photos. I'm just not sure what a photo with a 50 year old man in the midst of a gaggle of Hooters Girls does for your sex appeal. These girls get PAID to have their photo taken with you, it's not necessarily because they find you attractive... sorry. This cross-references with the chapter title, "Are Those Girls Really Your Daughters?" Middle age men in photos with co-eds with the caption, "my daughters" is really rather jaw-dropping.

For the real men, the good men, there are photos in my age range of men with their families, photos with their adult children, and grandchildren, which is very sweet.

My dear late stepdad used to say that I was always trying to find the good in any situation, "Doone, you're the kid digging through a pile of horse manure on Christmas morning saying, "I know there's a pony under here somewhere!"

True... always looking for the half full glass, the silver lining, the bright side... and the truth is, there are good men putting themselves out there online. Scary old world it is, and having a friend and partner to face it with somehow makes the glass half full again. Yes, Virginia, there are good men out there who happen to be looking, too.

Saturday Renewal

Today's view of the porch is covered in powdered sugar. I'm spending my Saturday afternoon in my favorite way... baking in the kitchen listening to a basketball game on the radio. I'm baking for the church youth group bake sale tomorrow. The last two sheets of cutout sugar cookies are in the oven and I'm getting all the fun stuff together for Emily to decorate.
My niece Catherine has challenged me to be British and make a Victoria sponge cake for the bake sale. I am prepared to take this one on. I have a good cuppa and ready to start. It's a yellow cake, rich with four eggs. Between the two layers is whipped cream and jam. I'm using strawberry, per Catherine's suggestion. I rarely see her as she has always lived in the UK and I have always lived here. But things like this make me feel close to her. Love you, Rosie.
Earlier this morning, I volunteered at a solo band contest at our middle school. Every single student was amazing. Adolescents to teenagers, boys and young men, girls and young women, all stood nervously waiting their turn to play. From breathy flutes played by equally wispy girls to giant instruments that were as large as the students who played them. A lovely young woman playing a baritone saxophone - I swear it was bigger than she was. A new thing was a bass clarinet - a clarinet dressed up like a saxophone. Beautiful sound... Moms and dads all proud.
Good life lessons, these things are. The students who forgot their music. The students who stood waiting to play and wishing they had prepared a lot more than they had as they stood ready to play in front of an audience. It's good to be scared, one of the music teachers remarked. And it is. Life is that way. There are loads of experiences that scare the pee out of us as we grow and something like this is rather painless in the grand scheme of things.
It started feeling like spring this week. The sun is up earlier in the morning and later in the evening. It smells a bit like mud. The birds are singing more loudly at dawn. Renewal in the air. So, I'm trying new things. I made a new friend this past week. I'm trying my hand at a new cake recipe. I'm thinking about my garden. The house and my soul,are in need of spring cleaning. Time to go through the stuff that I don't need any more and pass it on to others.
Time to give this cake recipe a go ... why not challenge yourself this week to try something new?

The hiatus

Goodness. It's been awhile since I've checked in here...
Nothing especially exciting to keep me away. I can't say I've spent January in Provence or stashed away writing The Great American Novel. No, just everyday life and lots of it. I wouldn't have it any other way.
The view from the porch tonight is dark.
Ok, bad joke.
Somewhat snow-covered ... and dark. I've missed a good roaring snowstorm this winter. What little snow we've had, my dear neighbor men have done a quick and tidy job of removing it for me. They will each have home-baked chocolate chip cookies wrapped in cellophane bags and tied with a red ribbon from me on Tuesday. They all keep watch for me and mine.
Had a lot of time in the car this weekend. My children are conditioned to fall asleep for the first hour of any car trip. Lots of quiet time. It was a beautiful day to drive the two lane highways of southwest Iowa, weaving my way to the interstate. There's more snow there as they had a rip-roaring good storm last weekend. Today the sky was crystal blue and the snow was so white and clean, it was blinding. Just lovely. Peaceful.
I'm totally enthralled with my children these days and the ride that we are all on together. The weekend has been so good. We are back home and tired from our whirlwind trip to Omaha and Red Oak, but strangely rested and restored with homemade chocolate cake and lasagna.
Life is good.